One of the greatest demands made on laser systems is that of the surgeon who requires powerful laser beams to replace surgical knives. The advantage of the laser beam over the knife in surgical applications is well documented, for example, a laser beam is always free of contamination, it coagulates the blood as it cuts and it always remains sharp. However, diaadvantages of the laser beam compared to the surgeons knife are the bulkiness of prior art laser beam generators and the extreme safety precautions needed for its operation, ranging from electrical shock hazard to blindness and severe skin burns, particularly in the presence of oxygen.
To approach the effectiveness of a surgeons' knife, the laser beam has to be generated within a compact, hand-held casing, which protects the surgeon from the electrical shock hazards and provides the surgeon with an undistorted, coherent laser beam of appropriate power and wave length.
The present invention provides a suitably compact, hand-held surgeons' laser knife, its plastic casing giving protection against electrical shock hazards and the stable alignment of the laser beam generator to allow for an undistorted laser beam emission.